Alginate gum is a natural gum derived from seaweed. Alginate gum is an effective gelling and thickening agent and has been used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. One such commonly used alginate gum is sodium alginate. However, there are drawbacks to using sodium alginate in oral care compositions, such as toothpastes. Gels made from sodium alginate often lack the rheological and structural properties necessary to make striped toothpaste. Also, sodium alginate structurants have drawbacks in that their resulting toothpastes do not have the necessary flow characteristics and/or lack a clear appearance in an aqueous solution, which is demanded by the consumer.
There is a desire, therefore, to develop an improved sodium alginate structurant formulation and method of forming the same that has the rheological and structural properties necessary to make striped toothpastes, and yet still have continuous flow under an applied shear stress, and also have a clear, colorless appearance when in an aqueous solution.